


stray

by dinivanter



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 00 liners r sophomores, Alternate Universe - College/University, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, M/M, Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, also binsung shippers might enjoy some of it, and those pov tiktoks abt it, babi innie is a freshman!, chan and minho r seniors, changbin is a junior, inspired by team by lorde
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 15,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29459880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinivanter/pseuds/dinivanter
Summary: minho really should've expected it. the way the younger acted, it wasn't normal at all. he uses a skateboard to school nearly everyday and manages to avoid the strict facilities(and chan) from giving him detention.jisung is really reckless as well, minho figured that much ever since he's met him. so really, he should've seen this coming.except- he couldn't, because even if jisung was different from the current place he's in, he was also different from the other side where no one except their own kind dared to encounter.jisung belonged to both places, yet belonged nowhere at the same time.OR: in a world where humans were split into two species, the normals and the outcasts. where a legend has started to resurface, declaring violence from the opposing organization.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	1. notes

_**GET TO KNOW ABOUT THE TWO HUMAN SPECIES:** _

_THE NORMALS & STRAYS_

General Knowledge !

× _People who are born from 19 and below are safe to go anywhere without being checked on by securities._

× _When people reach 18, they go to the anti-Stray organization, The Take Away, to be informed of the immediate action required if they possibly turn._

× _Not all people turn to Strays when turning 20, when they do, they are expected to pack their belongings and head to the hidden city of Strays._

× _People believe in the Legend of the Born Astray, a Stray who has been given birth to nearly twenty years ago. Identity till now remains unknown._

× _Strays are NOT allowed to give birth, hence why their population is very little and is starting to become extinct._

Additional Knowledge !

× _Strays go undercover and blend into the cities of normal humans, TTA has known about this, yet hasn't considered taking action unless needed be._

× _Strays have their own special enhanced sense, varying from the sense of sight, hearing, speed, or intuition. Rumors say the Born Astray has all of the mentioned senses._

Extremely Unknown Knowledge !

× _Half-Strays exist._


	2. prologue

** _BREAKING NEWS!_ **

_The building of an anti-Stray human organization, The Take Away Company, was currently shut down and cut off from electricity. Staffs and workers have been asked, and we have been told that the Legend has finally made a move against them. The 'Born Astray' has taken action against the organization. Polices and investigators went and checked the main electricity room, and they have come across a note stuck on the door. The note is excused for its foul language and should be taken seriously._

**_I've been hiding for so long, get ready motherfuckers._ **

-

_Minho listens to the way Chan talks to him, enjoying his voice bit by bit, along with the way he smiles at his own jokes and the way Minho would look at him incredulously._

_"Do all humans have to be involved in the 'TTA vs. Born Astray' issue?" Chan finds himself asking._

_Minho was about to answer after shrugging, but the door barges open, startling all of the juniors in the room. They see Changbin rush in, who isn't their classmate, and who definitely does not belong in their classroom._

_"Chan hyung, Minho hyung, we have a problem in the hallways." He says, clutching on the folder in his arm tightly._

_"Troublemakers again?" Minho sighs._

_"Troublemakers bullying Jeongin and the transferee." Chan calmly stands up from his seat, while Minho follows closely behind._

_"Alright," Minho frowns, but the glint in his eyes says otherwise. "More moral points to erase from that pretty folder of yours, dear secretary."_


	3. one

* * *

Minho laughs at the picture of the note on the television screen, earning a chuckle that nearly sounded like a scoff from his roommate, Hyunsuk.

"Why do you seem.. amused?" Hyunsuk asks, crossing his arms. "It clearly said to take it seriously."

"Who wouldn't be amused? The curse made it interesting." Minho chuckles, "It could be a prank for all they care!"

It _could_ be a prank for all they care, but the building being abruptly shut down, all power and electricity being cut off. It shouldn't be a prank.

No Normal could do that.

"It nerves me a little, what if all Normals and Strays would be involved in the chaos?" Hyunsuk mutters.

"We don't have to be." Minho tilts his head back on armrest of the couch, looking straight at Hyunsuk's eyes. "We can run away, you know! Your friends and mine."

Hyunsuk gasps, shaking his head right away. "That'll put us in more danger, hyung! And it's risky, only Strays can pull that off."

"What's with Strays being the only ones risky? I've used my phone or eat during class and I'm _not_ even a Stray, Normals pull of stunts too, y'know."

"Maybe it's because we don't do anything bigger than that." Hyunsuk shrugs, "Except for you, you burned a whole lab room before."

"That was an accident!"

"Debatable, you knew it was gonna explode."

Minho scoffs, rolling his eyes. He didn't deny though. He remembers how Chan mightily grabbed onto him and pulled, into his arms before running out of the room, Minho thought he met his knight in shining armour that day.

Except that Chan wasn't his prince charming, and Minho's a hopeless romantic despite his usual 'i don't care' behaviour. He doesn't plan to accept any other prince charming, because Chan had _all_ of it, and Minho's whipped for _him_.

But Chan's just his best friend, and that's a problem.

Hyunsuk takes his silence as defeat, and he happily jumps from his desk chair, skipping to the bathroom. "It's bedtime, hyung, I'm gonna get ready for bed."

"Yeah, goodnight." Minho mutters, staring silently at the screen, a big contrast to how he did earlier.

What happens now?

⛓️

"Good morning Minho!" Chan happily greets him, watching as the boy takes his seat beside him. "Hyunsuk told me you laughed at the news last night."

"Is it really that of a big deal?" Minho asks, crossing his arms. "I just find it funny, that's all."

"Of course you would." Chan sighs, and finally decides to shift the topic to another subject.

Minho listens to the way Chan talks to him, enjoying his voice bit by bit, along with the way he smiles at his own jokes and the way Minho would look at him incredulously.

"Do all humans have to be involved in the _TTA vs. Born Astray_ issue?" Chan finds himself asking.

Minho was about to answer after shrugging, but the door barges open, startling all of the juniors in the room. They see Changbin rush in, who isn't their classmate, not even a _senior_ , and who definitely does _not_ belong in their classroom.

"Chan hyung, Minho hyung, we have a problem in the hallways." He says, clutching on the folder in his arm tightly.

"Troublemakers again?" Minho sighs.

"Troublemakers bullying Jeongin and the _transferee_." Chan calmly stands up from his seat, while Minho follows closely behind.

"Alright," Minho frowns, but the glint in his eyes says otherwise. "More moral points to erase from that _pretty folder_ of yours, dear secretary."

⛓️

"Jisung hyung, don't!" Jeongin panicked, trying to break out of the arms of Taro, a bully he usually encounters. His cousin ignores his words, facing another one of Taro's allies, Byeol.

Though Jisung would prefer to call them Bitch and Bastard instead.

Jisung silently stares at the boy taller than him, he was skinning him with his eyes. Jeongin hated that look, Jisung looked too calm and eerily quiet. Younghyun would agree with him.

"Who's this, Yang? A puppet?" Byeol mocks, looking down at the boy as tall as his nose. "Cute eye patch, little guy."

Jeongin watches as Jisung ignores the remark, still remaining quiet. If there was one thing that could both keep you sane and make you crazy, it's Jisung's silence.

He sees Byeol click his tongue, his eyebrows furrowing, and Jeongin knows that's what Jisung _wants_ him to do. He never engages the first punch, he triggers it from the enemy.

Jeongin hoped Chan and his friends wouldn't have to witness him being in a state for the nth time, but he knew it was impossible ever since he saw Changbin with his folder of moral points in his arm, running towards the hallways a little quicker than usual after landing his eyes on Jisung's unfamiliar face.

Soon enough, he hears shuffling from the students, Jeongin knew they were here. Jisung doesn't care though, like he always does.

"Yang, this is yours, right? Make him talk." Byeol spits, unaware of the group of three high authorities standing along the crowd. Why they aren't interfering yet, Jeongin doesn't know, and he knows Jisung liked it that way.

"Jisung hyung is _not_ my puppet!" Jeongin hisses, stubbornly thrashing around in Taro's arms. "Stop calling him that!"

Jeongin sees Jisung turn around and give him a look, and he immediately stills. It was a soft look he gave only to him and Younghyun, yet it still held power. Jeongin assumes Jisung looks deadlier when it comes to Byeol.

⛓️

_Jisung, huh._

"Is that the transferee? Jeongin knows him?" Minho asks Chan, crossing his arms on his chest. "He looks too small for Byeol, _heck_ even Jeongin, you sure we should let him deal with it?"

"Also, why are we even standing by?" Changbin deadpans.

"We've never seen anyone stand up for someone else, plus it's the transferee, don't tell me you aren't interested?" Chan fires back, smiling knowingly at how Minho's eyes widen. He wants to kiss the smile off his face, but he's right.

Minho just scoffs in response, but he looks ahead anyway.

"Is he just gonna stand there?" Minho complains, and what irritates him more is that the boy has a pretty side view, no one wants that ruined.

Minho looks at Jeongin, and he's a little confused to why Jeongin seemed to be more worried for Byeol rather than the boy.

The hallways are awfully filled with awkward silence, and they all hear it when Byeol scoffs loudly again.

"Yang, if your puppet here won't move, I'll do it myself." Minho sees the corner of Jeongin's lips open and move a little, words incoherent, and it takes his attention from what happens next.

He hears Changbin mutter a _holy shit_ and it was enough for Minho to look back at the two other boys, and _oh my god holy shit indeed._

Byeol swinged in to punch, but the boy quickly steps back. When he misses, Minho sees the other smile a little. It was mockingly painful, it almost made Minho think he was the bully. Yet the smile was awfully _cute_ as well, a close second to Chan's.

Minho didn't like to admit it, but Byeol was a good fighter who swings fast punches, but it appears that the new kid was faster.

"What, should we interfere now?" Changbin asks, "New kid's cool and all, but we'll look like we allow the chaos in the campus."

Chan sighs, eyes lingering on Jeongin for a bit. "Yeah, let's go."

The three of them step forward, catching the attention of Jeongin right away, and the boy immediately sighs out in relief.

"Sungie hyung!" He calls out.

The called boy turns around, stepping away to make Byeol stumble a little after letting out another failed punch, his fist landing in Minho's hand. The freshman's eyes widen.

Taro immediately lets go of Jeongin, and the boy quickly steps behind Jisung, his hand clutching on the back of the other's black jacket, letting out another breath of relief. Jisung seems unbothered again, his eye digging unto the three new presences around him.

Yeah, his _eye_. Jisung had an eye patch on the left.

Minho almost melted and hid behind Chan under the intense gaze, the only thing holding him back was that he figured Sungie wouldn't make a move unless they do.

"Byeol, Taro," Minho hums, looking away from the sophomore and unto the freshmen. "I think you're getting a little _too_ comfortable about not getting caught."

The two boys stay still, not making any noise. Minho knew they weren't scared of them, he knew, and sometimes he questions why Chan still goes easy on them when they could just expell the two in a snap of two fingers.

On any normal occasion like this, students would ignore and start minding their own businesses again, and Minho almost questioned why the hallways were still eerily silent until he sees the way Jeongin grips behind Jisung's jacket, probably refraining him.

"Taroka Rin, Byeol Hyun, this has been the nth time I've had your names searched." Chan sighs, but it wasn't sympathetic, he looks at Changbin looking just as smug while flipping through the pages in the folder, seeming to have memorized the boys' names.

Minho catches Byeol rolling his eyes, and he launches forward to grab on the freshman's collar. "You little bastard."

He feels Chan hold on his shoulder, and Minho reluctantly yet harshly lets go, stepping beside Chan once again. He feels an eye reading him, but he ignores it.

"You have 53 moral points left, both of you." Changbin mumbles, "Go back to class."

The two freshmen leaves quickly, a pathway being made for them as they pass through the freshman hallways. Minho grumbles incoherent words while watching the back of their figures, finally stopping when Chan calls his name again.

Some students start to talk again, seeming uninterested after the freshmen have left. Others remain listening.

"Hyung," Jeongin calls out, peeking(without much effort) over Jisung's shoulder to meet Chan's eyes. "Thank you very much, I'm really sorry.."

Minho doesn't like how Chan quickly denies the statement when it comes to the younger, "No! It's our duty, Jeongin, don't feel sorry." Minho doesn't like how Changbin looks at him knowingly either.

Or maybe it wasn't Changbin, because Minho sees the secretary looking down on his folder. He looks around, jumping a little when he meets Jisung's eye, a smug face, yet he sees the mischievous glint in his eye.

Minho decides that Jisung may be pretty, but _damn_ is he too observant.

Jeongin thanks Chan once more, tugging on Jisung's sleeve again. The older turns to his cousin, and the three sees how his face softens at Jeongin's presence. "Let's go, hyung!"

Changbin ignores the tension, Chan watches Jeongin walk away, and instead of Minho looking at Chan's whipped face, he finds himself looking at Jisung's back facing them.

Jisung was annoyingly _pretty_.


	4. two

Changbin looks up to see the two awestruck boys, and he scoffs. "Unbelievable."

Chan jolts at the remark, while Minho just looks away. The three of them decided to part once more and head back to classes, knowing that classes will start soon. Minho quietly looks at Chan, who seems to be a little out of it.

Then his mind drifts back to Jisung, _I guess my last year won't be boring after all_.

⛓️

It took a lot from Jisung to leave Jeongin in his room, but when he does, he decided that it was a better choice since he didn't want to be late on his first day. Jisung subtly walks towards his first class, not bothering to ask for help thanks to the school's layout behind his schedule.

Once he arrives, he softly opens the door, ignoring the way almost everyone was staring at him curiously, like he was some different species.

Jisung looks around, spotting a lot of empty seats, but he preferred a place near the windows. He'll need a place where he can spend his time off wisely, and it's not by listening to class. Jisung didn't come here for that.

But then again he has to pass for Jeongin. Jisung sighs.

"Hello!" A cheerful voice greets beside him, and Jisung turns around to see a boy smiling at him widely. Jisung, in his usual way, stares silently at the boy.

He tilts his head a little to the side, smile turning a little smaller. "I thought you'd talk out of the scene, maybe that's just how you are. Not that I find anything bad about it, though! I'm Lee Felix by the way, I'm sorry for being too talkative, you're just interesting!"

_This kid is too bright_ , Jisung internally sighs. Call him rude and all, but Jisung can't help but not say anything at all. Screw his introverted nature. He settles in nodding a little instead, looking away silently, "Han Jisung."

Felix nods his head happily, "I'm friends with Jeongin, too! We're not really close, though, but we talk sometimes." He sighs, "I'm just worried about him because of Taro and Byeol."

Jisung turns to look at him again, observing his face. The thought of Jeongin having someone there for him aside from him and Younghyun makes Jisung a little relieved.

The other figures he would have to do all the talking, so he speaks. "Why did you transfer here, if I may ask?"

"Jeongin." Jisung answers right away, voice soft and tender. Felix smiles at the tone.

"You seem to be very close, I was actually a little worried for you out there, too. Luckily, Minho hyung and his friends interrupted. He's my brother, by the way!"

_This feels like talking to the sun_. Except Jisung couldn't really say that, since Jeongin and Younghyun says the same about him. Jisung just nods his head. _A sun that says too much things, that is_.

The door opens, and in comes the teacher for their first class. Felix gasps before leaning back to his seat, getting his things out quickly before smiling at Jisung. "Welcome to Erem High by the way."

Okay, maybe Jisung finally has something to say.

"Thanks."

⛓️

Jisung quickly packs his things, slinging his bag behind him before standing up from his seat. He hoped he didn't look like he was avoiding Felix, but when he looks at the boy, it seems like he understood why he was rushing.

"Can I come with you?" Felix asked carefully, unsure if the question was allowed to be asked.

The eye patched has decided that he likes Felix, so he nods his head before walking out of the room. The freckled boy follows behind as they walk to the freshman hallways.

While walking, Jisung looks around the halls, checking if Jeongin was already out of the room. He lets Felix lead the way this time, who tells him that Jeongin always waits for him inside before they leave.

"Sungie hyung!" Jisung brightens when he hears the voice of his cousin, rushing closer to wrap his arms around the younger's waist, given the height difference.

Jeongin loved Jisung's eye very much, it may lack another due to the eye patch, but it shows every emotion Jisung feels, and Jeongin is proud to say that he could understand every message conveyed.

Jisung may lack in showing his feelings through actions, but his eye _always_ tells everything.

And when he looks at Jeongin with a silent question, he gets it right away. "I'm fine, hyung."

Jisung smiles a little widely, and if you ask Felix, he almost assumed Jeongin was older than him by the way he looked up a little to the taller with a bright smile. It was cute.

"Oh, hi Lix hyung!" Jeongin greets, bowing a little. Felix bows back as well, smiling kindly at the younger.

"Hi, Jeongin! Jisung and I are actually seatmates, he's really quiet isn't he?" Felix rambles again.

Jisung silently watches as Jeongin nods his head excitedly, as if he was an interesting topic. He leans his weight on his right foot and tilts his head a little as well, silently anticipating on the upcoming conversation.

"Hyungie is really quiet, but when you get to know him, you'll figure when he actually wants to talk." Jeongin smiles, looking at Jisung playfully.

"Wait, then- does he look like he wants to talk right now?" Felix suddenly faces the smaller, looking at him with curiosity and interest. "He looks the same all the time."

Jisung stares right back at Felix with much more intensity, making the younger cower away a little. Jeongin just laughs while shaking his head.

Leaving the question unanswered, Jeongin turns around to start walking away, Jisung and Felix following close behind. The eye patched boy looks around silently, paying attention to any student that could possibly cause trouble like earlier.

Instead, he sees one familiar boy by his locker. He has the usual folder in one of his arms, the other fixing the things inside his locker. Felix sees him too, jogging forward to approach the older.

"Changbin hyung!" Felix cheers, skipping closer.

"Hello Lix, you need something?" Changbin asks, "Minho hyung is still with Chan hyung, they'll be here soon."

Felix nods his head, turning around to see Jeongin and Jisung finally coming closer. Changbin sees the action, following his eyes after, and it widens a little when it lands on Jisung.

"Hm, new kid?" Changbin blurts out with a perplexed face, "Jisung right?"

Jisung just nods his head, bowing a little to show some manners. Changbin almost smirks at the sight, _he's just like him_. The junior looks over at Felix, only to see the younger smiling knowingly at him. A look that clearly said _I know what you're thinking and I agree_.

Jeongin bows as well, greeting him kindly for the both of them. "Hello, Changbin hyung, it's nice to meet you again."

"Please don't talk like that, we've bumped into each other for a lot of times now. You're not just an acquaintance anymore, Jeongin."

"But," Jeongin stutters, shifting his gaze from Changbin to Felix. "One of your friends don't seem to like me.."

Jeongin kinda regrets saying those when he sees how Jisung looks at him with both caution and curiosity. Felix just laughs loudly, and Changbin follows with a chuckle.

"Don't mind him, it doesn't stop us from being your friend." Changbin says, waving his hand around like it was nothing.

Jisung perks up from his place this time, looking at the two boys with a curious look on his face. "May I ask who?"

Felix looks at the boy with a cheeky smile, "Lee Minho."


	5. three

"Hyung," Minho calls out, earning the older's attention right away. "What do you think about that Jisung kid?"

Chan faces him with a questioning look for a while before turning to look ahead of their way. "He's pretty mysterious if you ask me, he's really quiet, plus that eye patch on his left- or was it right? I don't know, but that eye patch on one of his eyes adds on to it."

Minho nods his head, taking in the words the other just said. Chan doesn't mind the silence for a while, but he turns to the younger when he realized he hasn't said anything yet.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No!" Minho exclaims, shaking his head quickly. "I'm just thinking."

"That's surprising."

"Hyung." Minho rolls his eyes, and the older just laughs. He always loves that sound.

"Why though? You think Jisung's cute?" Chan teases, poking Minho on the side. The younger scoffs half-jokingly, turning away to cross his arms.

 _You're still cuter, hyung_. "He is, but I have my eyes set on someone else!"

"Sure, you still haven't told me who that _someone else_ is." Chan chuckles, leaning away to give some space. Minho wouldn't have minded either way.

"When it comes to things like these? I don't trust anyone enough."

"I doubt that, Changbin knows!"

Minho doesn't answer. Chan is oblivious as _fuck_ , and he wants to keep it that way.

The two seniors walk in silence, occasional talks and random conversations being exchanged and nothing more has passed. Chan smiles a little when he sees Minho scan the hallways quietly, in case something strange was happening around them.

There _is_ something strange. Especially when you see Jeongin and the transferee hanging out with one of your best friends and your brother. Minho gives a distasteful glance towards the freshman, and instantly looks away to stop the hateful feeling growing from his stomach.

What Minho _does_ look at after, was Jisung's eye, that was staring right back at his with that knowing look on his face again.

"Oh! Hi Innie, hi Jisung." Chan greets, snapping the younger senior out of his thoughts.

Jeongin bows with just the same enthusiasm, while Jisung tilts his head down a little before looking back up as a small bow. It was better than nothing.

"Not gonna greet us?" Felix pouts, crossing his arms.

"Hello to you too, Chan hyung and Minho hyung." Changbin sarcastically remarks, but there was no bite in his words.

The way Jeongin subtly steps behind Jisung didn't go unnoticed, and it made Chan's smile sadden a little. Minho fights the urge to let out an exasperated sigh, turning away to avoid looking at the shorter boy in front of him.

"Any reports today aside from earlier?" Minho asks instead, pointing his chin towards the folder in Changbin's arm. The junior shakes his head, much to the relief of the two seniors.

Jisung tilts his head up to the side to face his younger cousin behind him, a request hidden in his eye. Minho's eyes land on the eye patch he was wearing, his curiosity making him imagine what could possibly be underneath the cover.

Jeongin makes eye contact with Jisung, before smiling in slight relief and nodding his head. He turns to the other boys before speaking, "We're gonna get going and have lunch, thanks for checking up on me as always, Lix hyung."

Felix smiles as bright as the sun, nodding his head two times. "It's nothing, Innie! Call me if you need anything."

"Wait," Chan interrupts, halting the conversation. "Are you.. friends? Or..?"

"Oh! We're cousins."

"Actually, what if we could _finally_ get to know each other better instead of splitting?" Changbin suggests. Minho looks at the junior with wide eyes, only to receive a knowing glare, which makes him sigh in defeat.

Jisung looks at Chan and raises an eyebrow, and the senior only responds with an apologetic smile as he looks at Jeongin. The freshman didn't need to tell Jisung about anything, he'll figure out everything on his own.

"Yay! Come on Innie, you have me and Jisung to protect you from those bad guys!" Felix cheers, grabbing onto Jeongin's hand before rushing towards the cafeteria. Jisung quietly follows behind, hands in his pockets between Changbin and Chan.

On the way to the cafeteria, Jeongin and Felix kept talking animatedly at the front, leaving quiet conversations between Chan and Minho and nothing else but absolutely silence between Changbin and Jisung.

Jisung noticed how Changbin fiddled with the side of his folder, the junior looked awkward and lost, it almost made Jisung laugh. But he settles with a smile. Changbin's eyes widen at the gesture, before he melts a little and smiles back.

"Why'd you transfer here, by the way?" Changbin carefully asks, just like how Felix did in their classroom.

"Jeongin." Jisung replies with the same amount of fondness from earlier, looking at how the younger laughed in delight whenever Felix would say something funny.

Maybe Changbin imagined it, but he knew he felt his cheeks heat up at how happy Jisung looked.

_Fuck_ , Changbin curses.

⛓️

The boys take their own seats at a table, Jeongin sitting between Felix and Jisung while Chan sat in between Changbin and Minho. Jeongin and Felix continues to talk while putting out their lunch while Jisung started to eat silently.

Chan stares at Jeongin from time to time, until he shifts his attention to the boy beside him, who was silently looking at a particular eye patched boy from a little far away.

He smirks, leaning on his side to nudge the junior with his elbow. "So, Jisung huh?" Minho hears the two whispering, and he only catches on when he sees Changbin turn pink before avoiding to look at Jisung.

"And here we thought Changbin wasn't a sap, who knew you'd like the mysterious new kid?" Minho leans in to tease as well, lowering his voice down a bit since he was sitting in front of Changbin's love interest.

"Shut up, hyung! You do _not_ want to know how much I have against you." Changbin squints his eyes, ignoring the way his ears turn pink. He smirks in victory when Minho immediately sits straight up on his seat.

Chan pouts, "Why do you two know, and not me?"

"Just 'cause." Minho mutters, sometimes he wonders how dense Chan could be.

He also ignores how Felix was already paying attention to their conversation, and he fights the glare he was about to give when he notices Jeongin a little curious as well.

"Anyway!" Changbin tries to shrug it off, looking everywhere except the new sophomore. "Jisung, where were you last studying before coming here?"

Jeongin looks at Jisung for a while, and was planning to answer for him until the older spoke.

"A school from far away, it's not really known, so there's no point telling you." Jisung answers shortly, taking in another scoop of his food. His choice of words would've sounded mean if it weren't for his voice and his face showing innocence.

All of them except Jeongin nods understandingly, the freshman complains. "I didn't even know he was planning to transfer here, I could've warned him about the troublemakers."

Jisung shoots the younger a look, and Jeongin immediately looks down sheepishly. "Or maybe I should've done vice versa."

Minho rolls his eyes this time, "Either way, they'd still cross paths and cause another issue like what just happened. You should just be more careful around your batch mates, Jeongin."

"Minho," Chan warns with disbelief laced in his voice. "It's not like Jeongin could just avoid them _all the time_."

Felix and Jeongin stays silent, while Changbin watches as Jisung stopped eating, settling with playing with his food using his fork.

"I'm just saying, most of our reports are from _them_ , Jeongin should at least try to avoid them more, it doesn't seem like he's trying at all." Minho huffs.

Chan furrows his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side a little. "Minho, it was _you_ who promised to go against all the troublemakers in the campus along with the student council. Why do you complain when it comes to Jeongin?"

"Stop it," Changbin sighs, crossing his arms. "You're fighting in front of the boy."

Minho scoffs, resuming to eating his lunch. Felix looks at his brother with a disappointed yet pitiful look, before continuing to eat his lunch as well.

The senior tries to distract his own frustration by looking around the cafeteria, only to meet Jisung's eye again, the boy was openly staring at him with his chin on his hand, elbow resting on the table. The way his blonde fringes fell over his forehead and onto his eye and eye patch, making his right eye look darker and deeper.

Minho suddenly feels embarrassed, his cheeks flaring red before grumbling. "What're you looking at?"

Jisung just smiles knowingly, _mockingly_.

Minho's eyes widen, _he's hella cute_ , he thinks while hearing Changbin choke on his food in the background.

_Chan's still cuter._


	6. four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay but just a reminder,, i do NOT have the whole story planned. sure there's a plot and some ideas but im jus writing this on a whim lmao, also pls im rlly busy w school i hope u understand why i updated so slow

Changbin ushered for the three younger boys to follow him, bidding goodbyes with the two seniors with a warning glare on his face. Chan and Minho knew what that look meant.

Felix tried to lighten up the mood(which he thankfully succeeded to do), casually throwing out some jokes and smiling widely when he sees Jisung smile along with the laughter.

"We're really sorry about those two, they're the seniors yet they act like kids all the time." Felix suddenly says, rubbing the back of his neck. Before he drops it and turns to the cousins, "But that does _not_ mean we're not friends anymore! Minho can really get mean sometimes."

Jeongin looks away with a frown, doubting the words the older just said. Changbin takes the chance to look at Jisung, only to see the boy blankly staring ahead of the way.

"It's alright, Lix hyung, I just don't understand why Minho hyung doesn't like me." Jeongin smiles sadly, reaching out to grab onto his cousin's hand for comfort.

"I'm not even surprised if it takes you years to know why." Changbin mutters jokingly, hoping no one hears, but it backfires when Jisung turns to look at him with an eyebrow raised. The junior blushes, sighing in relief when the younger turns around without saying anything.

The rest of their exchanges weren't that much interesting, though they were entertaining. It was soon till they've reached the freshmen hallways, and Jisung does his habit of looking around once more.

Changbin takes note of the action, like how he's started to take note of _every_ little action the sophomore has been doing, and he feels a familiar feeling in his chest, he's seen another person do the same; being overly cautious and alert around other people, limited body language to keep himself closed off and safe, away from everyone else.

They greet Jeongin goodbye before turning around to walk to the hallway of the intersection of all levels. Changbin watches how Felix animatedly tries to talk to the other, joining in the conversation when he can. He sees how Jisung finally settles down once he knew Jeongin is safe in his room.

Felix notices the way the junior spectates the sophomore, nudging him on the shoulder a little. "Hyung, your thoughts are _really_ loud."

Changbin hums, looking away when Jisung turns to look at him as well. "They are?"

He looks at Felix to meet the knowing smile on his face, nodding his head with a chuckle. "We're already in the intersection, you don't plan on following us to our rooms, do you? Unless you're kind enough-"

"Nope, not right now. I'm almost late." Changbin rolls his eyes, "Tomorrow, I might consider."

"You've been saying that since the first semester yet you don't even-"

"Jisung," Changbin cuts the younger off, ignoring the way he pouts and focusing on how Jisung's eye sparkle in anticipation. "I'm really sorry about Minho hyung and Chan hyung earlier, it must've been disappointing to hear them talk about your cousin like that."

Even though the junior was a little shorter than him, Jisung was still able to radiate something nearly innocent-like. Changbin decides that Jisung is very cute.

The way his eye darkens scares the boys for a bit, but it was quickly disregarded when Jisung shakes his head. "I'll talk to them soon."

No _it's okay's_ , no reassurance, unlike what Jeongin would say. If Jisung says he'll talk to them, he'll talk to them _for sure_. Changbin and Felix caught on to that, and no doubt Jeongin knows the boy would really do it.

Changbin finally nods his head, the response seeming good enough for him. He greets them farewell before turning around, never missing the way Jisung smiles kindly at him. _Well, at least I got on his good side._

⛓️

After classes, the clock strikes 4PM, which means Jisung still had a few hours left to prepare for his midnight walks with Younghyun. The only time of the day Jisung really waited for.

Felix sees the way Jisung rushes in fixing his things, this time he was a little curious to why. "Jisung? You seem a little excited."

He expected Jisung to glare at him at the sudden question, or probably slow his pace down, but what he didn't expect was Jisung to turn to him and smile brighter than usual. And _oh my god that was beautiful_ , Felix thinks.

Jisung nods enthusiastically, clearing his throat before speaking. "Skatepark." He blurts out, standing up to dust off his uniform.

Felix stands up as well, eyes wide in amusement. "You can skate? That's so cool! I've always wanted to try it, but Minho hyung told me it might actually be dangerous. Maybe you can teach me! If you could, of course."

The sophomore ignores the way he rambled and smiles gently, nodding his head in agreement. Felix gasps, bouncing on his feet, "Oh my god, yay!"

"I don't know if I have time, though.." Jisung speaks, voice soft and low. It was the longest he has spoken to a person he wasn't really close with, and it made Felix even happier.

"It's alright! I'm fine any time, you could just tell me when you're free!" Felix bubbles, reaching into his pocket to fish his phone out. "Here, put your number in my phone."

Jisung does as he's told, reaching out to grab the phone from the boy. He enters in his number and takes a call, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, he lets out a satisfied hum before giving the phone back to Felix.

The sophomore smiles brightly, ushering for him to walk with out of the room. Jisung follows right away, settling beside Felix as they head outside and towards the hallways.

See, Jisung was _really_ excited for tonight as usual, and he'd do anything to end up with Younghyun and in the streets, where he really belonged.

⛓️

But then _of course_ Taro and Byeol had to intervene, and Jisung would also never hesitate to hurt who hurts Jeongin. It shows when Taro holds his cousin down, while Byeol shoves the Jeongin's head away using two fingers on his forehead.

"Jisung-" Felix stammers, planning to reach out to the other when all he sees is an empty spot behind him. Felix frantically shoots his head forward just to see Jisung land a punch right on Byeol's nose, while Taro jumps and loosens his hold on Jeongin.

Felix decided that maybe it was better if Jisung handled it on his own- he didn't mean it by leaving Jisung alone _completely_ , but Felix was definitely aware that he wasn't a fighter unlike his brother, so he decided to be there to comfort Jeongin instead.

The freckled boy rushes to grab onto Jeongin's arm after successfully avoiding a punch from Taro(barely, phew), bringing the freshman into his arms as some sort of protection. Jeongin yelps, but he instantly relaxes in Felix's hold, though he still perks up to look out for his cousin.

Felix watches, cowering away to shield them both from the fight in the hallways. Then he noticed a crowd forming, cliche, but he couldn't blame them.

Then he notices just how alike Jisung and his brother was, Felix knew Changbin thinks the same, and after some time then maybe Chan would agree as well.

"He shouldn't be fighting people on his first day here! Lix hyung, please- we need Chan hyung and the others." Jeongin pleas, shaking the older a little.

Everyone hears someone slam unto the lockers, lots of people murmuring with some on their phones, and it takes Felix just a while to realize that Jisung was cornered.

"Go, Jeongin, call the hyungs!" Felix ushers, "Chan hyung's in class-"

"Taro! Byeol! I _swear_ to fucking god." Jeongin and Felix turns to see the owner of the voice, halting the fight immediately.

Standing in his mighty glory, a folder tightly clenched in one arm and in his student council uniform, was Seo Changbin.

With Chan and Minho standing quietly behind him.


	7. five

Jisung hisses, harshly pushing Byeol away from him before leaning away from the lockers. If Changbin weren't there, he would've done worse than just a few punches. The two boys quickly back away, maintaining the glares on their faces directly towards the eye patched kid.

_And to think they were freshmen too._

Jeongin rushes to stand beside his cousin, wrapping a hand around his to refrain him from doing something. A reminder that he was alright, and Jisung probably would've calmed down if it weren't for the fact that Jeongin's been dealing with his for _months_ ever since their first semester.

It didn't help that one of the people helping Jeongin didn't seem to like helping him at all. _If only that senior didn't like his best friend_ , Jisung curses in his head.

Felix runs and stops beside Jeongin as well, standing as a protection to separate him and not just the freshmen, but also his brother, just in case. Though it didn't seem like Minho would be stubborn today, considering the gloomy face he and Chan had on their faces.

They watch Changbin frustratingly take in a breath before huffing it out. "First I deal with two seniors now I'm dealing with two freshmen, remind me _why_ I'm the secretary?" He rambles to himself, walking closer towards the said freshmen.

Changbin takes a glance towards the eye patched sophomore, his eyes softening a little before it hardens again when he looks back at the troublemakers. "Rin, Hyun, if you're wishing to leave the school then you could just _ask_."

It was a first that it was _actually_ Changbin lecturing, not Minho nor Chan. The secretary would usually shoot glares or open his folder for names, with the usual _go_ _back to class_ when the issue ends, nothing more, and to see the way he looks when angry, the delinquents would have to admit that Changbin could be scarier than both Minho and Chan combined.

But they haven't seen the seniors get _genuinely_ mad either, just annoyed. They're totally testing the waters.

Changbin silently opens his folder, "How many points do you want erased? Do you want me to drop the two of you from 53 to 35, or do you want _nothing_ left?"

Jisung stares at the older during the whole situation, and he thinks that maybe Changbin needs to cool down(he has no right to talk, seeing what he just did- but hey, at least he's looking out for others!), he knows being angry while handling things wasn't a good combination.

When the freshmen remained silent, Jisung decided to interrupt with a small, "Changbin hyung."

The junior turns around, meeting Jisung's eye. Felix sees how Changbin's face softens, it made him want to smile- but they still had something serious going on, so that could hold on for later.

Changbin sighs, turning to the freshmen, "Rin, Hyun. 47 points, don't complain, don't test your luck."

The two boys nod their heads before turning around to run away, it doesn't take a while until the crowd disperses, each individual minding their own business again. Changbin closes his folder, turning to the three boys behind him.

"You okay, Jeongin?" Chan asks first, his voice a little shy and awkward. The freshman smiles a little, nodding his head.

Minho shifts his eyes from Jeongin to Jisung, noticing the way the sophomore looks at Chan with a bored look on his face. _Does this kid know anything else than observing everyone that talks to Jeongin?_

"Jisung," Changbin calls, said boy giving him his divided attention. Jisung hums, tilting his head to the side a little. "Are _you_ okay..?"

Jisung stares at the older for a bit, making Changbin shift under his stare, he looks away before nodding.

"Jisung, you have a bruise." Felix interrupts, face filled with worry.

"It's okay," Jisung softly speaks, a small smile on his face. The sophomore looks at Jeongin with wide expecting eyes, and the freshman understood right away.

Minho watches as Jeongin turns to all of them, "Sungie hyung and I have to go, he has somewhere to be."

He sees how Jisung's face brightens up again, the sparkle in his eye evident. It was so child-like, unlike how he glared earlier, so innocent and _cute_.

Right after they nod their heads, Jisung turns around and starts running with his hand wrapped around Jeongin's wrist, dragging him along. He was quite fast for a small boy.

"Hey! Don't forget your promise, Jisungie!" Felix exclaims through the hallways. The seniors and the junior looking at him with a face full of confusion.

 _What promise?_ They all turn back to look at the two cousins' backs facing them, but the question becomes forgotten right away, because right when they thought Jisung wouldn't hear, the boy turns around.

A wide smile on his face, rivaling the sun.

Minho thought it was beautiful.

⛓️

"I've never seen Changbin so whipped before." Felix teases, nudging the junior on his side. Changbin just rolls his eyes, scoffing right after.

"Don't even deny it, Binnie, we can clearly see how you look at Jisung like he hung the stars or something." Chan chuckles, oblivious to the way Minho stares at him with adoration.

"Hey, don't you dare talk to me as if nothing happened earlier." Changbin glares at the senior. Quietly, he mumbles, "I'm not even denying anything either."

Only Felix hears, and he watches as Chan's smile saddens a little. He sees Minho's eyes look away as well, his face darkening as he frowns again, missing the happiness on the older's face.

"Sorry." Minho mumbles, his head hanging low, it's the first he's spoken ever since the argument earlier. "I was being really petty about Jeongin, and-"

"Nope nope, why are you apologizing to _us_?" Changbin interrupts, crossing his arms. "We're clearly not the ones who deserve to hear it."

Minho and Chan looks at each other, before they turn to Felix and Changbin.

"And you're _finally_ apologizing to Jeongin! Do you know how scared the boy is of you? I had to reassure him every day that you won't kill him or whatever." Felix rambles, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "This happens everyday, yet you _never_ felt guilty about it, what happened today that suddenly changed everything?"

Minho glares at Felix, the sophomore quickly detaching himself from the older while raising his hands up in surrender. "Hey! Don't look at me like that!"

Changbin watches Minho roll his eyes, before shifting his eyes to Chan, who was simply smiling in relief at the brothers, then he looks at the direction Jisung and Jeongin left off.

"You're glaring at me when I didn't even suggest anything! So there _was_ something that changed, tell me, hyung." Felix urges, clinging onto Minho's arm while the senior tries to wiggle him off.

Chan laughs loudly, catching Minho's attention. Changbin sees how his face brightens at the older's laughter. _He's so whipped._ Changbin rolls his eyes.

_What could have changed?_ The junior thinks to himself, looking at the senior silently.

"Minho hyung," Changbin calls, and the senior looks at him right away. "What do you think about Jisung?"

Felix gasps at the question, "That's right! Ever since-"

"I don't know, a quiet mysterious boy with an eye patch? Jeongin's overprotective cousin?" Minho cuts his brother off, shrugging his shoulders. Felix pouts.

Minho sees Changbin deflate in relief, and he lets out a loud cackle. "What? Did you think I have something for Jisung?"

"No!" Changbin chokes out.

_That's right_. Changbin thinks, while he hears Chan shift the topic away again, and sees how Minho pays so much attention to whatever the older says. _It possibly couldn't be Jisung._

If it was, it'll be a big problem.


	8. six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter will be short bc it wont feel right if i just shift the vibe in d middle of the chapter, so :D

"You did great, Ji." Younghyun praised the younger, picking up the halfway empty spray cans on the alleyway road. He shakes the red colored one a little before handing it to the younger. "Now, your signature. Mark your masterpiece, kid."

Jisung nods quickly, thinking of a fitting symbol for himself, and for the forbidden art on the walls. A few moments later, he finally shakes the can again, pressing on the sprayer. His symbol didn't take too long to draw. It was a quokka's face, though Jisung only drew the ovally nose and the smiling mouth.

Younghyun chuckles beside him, ruffling his hair. "It doesn't fit the art, but it'll do for the artist." The younger scoffs at the comment, but he was smiling.

"Let's go," The older chimes, slinging the bag full of spray cans onto his arm, making a sound of clashing metals. "We still got a whole dull city to color." He winks at the younger.

Younghyun admired how Jisung still found joy in things like these.

At twelve in the midnight, where they would wander around and look for empty alleyways to spray paint on. They were brave, but they weren't always lucky enough to actually see a whole empty canvas out in the open, where everyone could see. Aside from the open skateboard park, the only walls they could spray on were in the dirty, smelly and narrowed spaces between buildings.

Then when one in the morning strikes, they would take a rest and eat ramen in the convenience store they would always go to. Kind enough to let the workers eat with them and help them clean up as well.

Raiding the mini supermarket at one thirty and playing with the carts, almost everyday even the cashier gave up on stopping them and would just go to the maintenance room to sleep there instead.

Till two in the morning, they would just walk around and eat all the snacks they respectfully bought from the supermarket after messing around. Sharing sentimental thoughts while basking under the twinkling stars and the moon's soft company.

Jisung and Younghyun were that duo, radiating adolescent fun, yet their actions screamed lawless delinquents. Lurking around in the city with no care about the curfew guards walking around.

All while hiding the mark on Jisung's right cheekbone with an eye patch, and Younghyun's Stray mark on the back of his left hand with a black glove.

Jisung was nineteen, yet a very rare gem undercover. Younghyun was twenty-five, his teacher, his guide, and his first Stray friend.

Jisung was quiet, calm, reserved. Younghyun was energetic, giddy and sociable. But both were alert, smart and quick. They were polar opposites, they both figured, but Jisung was important to Younghyun like his brother, and the younger loved his hyung just the same.

"How's your first day going, so far?" Younghyun asks.

"It's alright," Jisung smiles. "It's fun."

"Seems like it," Younghyun chuckles. "Met any interesting people?"

Jisung stays quiet for a while, and when Younghyun almost started assuming that the school he entered with Jeongin was boring, Jisung answers. "Four people."

"Woah, you already met four people? I guess you're not the introvert you used to be." Younghyun teases, laughing even louder when Jisung rolls his eye at him. "Anyway, tell me about them."

Jisung sighs, knowing he'll have a lot to talk about. Younghyun chuckles when he hears how lazy and tired Jisung's voice sounded while he talks, but he appreciated the effort.

Eventually, they arrive near Jisung's street, the younger quickly dismissing Younghyun away, saying he _didn't belong here_ and how the older would counter with the usual _you don't either_.

"Hey, Sung." Younghyun softly calls, watching as Jisung sets a foot on his skateboard. The younger hums in response.

Younghyun just stares at the younger for a while, inspecting the way a side of the boy's blonde hair shone brighter under one of the lampposts nearby. Jisung's smug eye looking at him from the side, arms laying limply under his black hoodie and sweatpants, looking way more delinquent-like instead of his usual soft looking uniform from his current campus.

"Hyung," Jisung blurts out, bringing the older back to Earth. Younghyun just chuckles, shaking his head.

"You know what you're doing, don't you?" The older asks, crossing his arms.

He watches Jisung turn his head away, his back fully facing him. It takes a while for him to answer, but then he does tilt his head up a little, before shrugging.

"If I don't," He pauses, "I wouldn't be here, right?"

Jisung drops his head low, taking off completely with one kick from the rough ground, a hand lazily waving gently. Younghyun sighs before turning around and leaving as well, he'd have to get back to the hidden city anyway.

He trusts Jisung.


	9. seven

Maybe skateboarding to school wasn't a good idea. Well, if Jisung just listened to Jeongin then _maybe_ he wouldn't have gotten into trouble, but Jisung wasn't normal. At least not fully.

The sophomore thought that walking to school took too much energy in him, and so he decided to skate instead.

It resulted to _tons_ of stares and attention, including the boys he recently met and his cousin himself. Jeongin came running to the school's entrance gates with a worried and anxious face, though he wasn't really surprised because he just knew Jisung would break a rule soon.

But who in their right mind allows cars, bikes and other vehicles and _not_ _skateboards_? Cruel, really.

Jisung didn't really mind(read, he didn't care at all) a detention slip either, but he felt a little bad when he sees Felix pouting while surrounded by Chan, Changbin and Minho as they watched their homeroom teacher hand him a slip with a disappointed look on their face.

It was only thirty minutes anyway, because he's a transferee and all.

⛓️

"Innie, you really should enlighten your cousin about the rules here." Chan sighs, Felix tries to calm the younger down by rubbing circles on his back.

"Yeah! And calm down, it's not like they gave Jisung two hours of detention unlike what they did to Minho hyung when he burnt the lab down-" Felix receives a smack on the shoulder. "It's just thirty minutes! It almost seems like _you're_ the one in detention, not him."

Jeongin nods his head, crossing his arms quietly. The three boys could totally say that the cousins did _not_ seem like cousins, personality and all. The only thing binding them together was their constant worrying for each other.

"Jisung seemed like he was enjoying himself as well." Changbin chuckles, "Sadly I have to drop his moral points to 95 instead of 100."

The freshman sighs, "I don't even know why I'm worried."

Here they were, sitting together in in their shared table, waiting for the eye patched sophomore to finish his session in the detention room. Jeongin checks his phone for the time, seeing that they only had a few moments left till Jisung finally arrives.

Speaking of the devil, it was Minho who sees the sophomore enter the cafeteria first, fashionably late and walking like he didn't just get a 30-minute detention slip. _30 minutes were too short anyway_.

Jisung arrives in front of their table, giving Minho a judging look on his face before sitting in between Felix and Jeongin. The senior's eyes widen, suddenly remembering about yesterday's incident.

Minho looks at Chan, only to see the older staring at the freshman in front of him, the usual sparkle in his eye on display. It makes the senior frown a little.

Changbin clears his throat, a knowing look on his face as he stares at the two seniors. "I believe you have something to say?"

"Oh, right.." Chan mutters, fiddling with his fingers. Minho looks around, trying to avoid any pair of eyes looking at them. Minho wasn't that guilty, and that's what made him feel a little bad.

"You go, I'm not doing this." Minho mumbles weakly, glaring at the table in front of him.

If the senior was being completely honest, he knew he was being petty and childish, but he could never help it. Minho only felt bad that he didn't feel any guilt towards Jeongin, instead he felt guilty towards Chan, making him think that the older would probably find him annoying after this.

It never started like this, Minho used to be good at containing what he felt, but ever since he saw Chan gush over the freshman this past few months, he couldn't help but feel really jealous.

He liked Chan since high school.

"Minho _hyung_ ," Changbin deadpans, rubbing his face with his two palms.

"I-It's okay Changbin hyung," Jeongin interrupts meekly, "I'll just sit somewhere else.."

"Innie," Felix frowns, but he doesn't say anything else to stop the younger. He understood that the freshman was afraid of his brother.

Jisung, however, looks at the younger senior in front of him with a blank face. He puts a hand on Jeongin's shoulder, making his cousin look at him. The younger quietly nods his head.

Minho looks unbothered, sighing with his cheek squished on his palm. He feels someone staring at him, and he lifts his gaze up to see Jisung glaring at him straight in the eye, he blinks.

"Jeongin," Chan calls out. "I'm really sorry."

The freshman smiles sadly at the senior's apology, bowing lowly. He smiles, at least one of them felt bad. Changbin didn't seem satisfied as he stared at Minho.

He sees the senior looking at Jisung with a bored look on his face, and that's when the junior looks at the eye patched boy's face this time. Jisung looked deadly, his aura radiating anger and disbelief.

Jeongin notices, and he finally takes his cousin's arm before tugging. Felix greets them farewell before sitting along with the three elders.

Chan watches the encounter between the sophomore and his younger senior, not finding it in himself to look at Jisung the way Minho could. He'd _die_.

Jisung first felt frustrated about how skateboards weren't allowed in the campus, and now he has to stop himself from jumping on the senior making his cousin uncomfortable.

They silently watch as Jisung and Jeongin starts heading away and out of the cafeteria, and they see Jisung plop an arm around Jeongin's shoulders, leaning onto his younger yet taller cousin. It would've been cute if it weren't for what's happening.

Minho starts eating his lunch, ignoring the way Changbin stares at him pointedly. "Looks can't kill, Changbin. Stop trying to skin me alive using your eyes."

"You're being a bitch, hyung." Changbin says through gritted teeth.

He doesn't receive any response, and he harshly inhales to take in deep breaths. Changbin sighs right after. "You're helpless."

Felix looks at Chan, only to see the older shift away from Minho a little. Of course Minho noticed it, and that's what made him look away, a little hurt.

Minho just can't seem to own up to his mistakes. Even _he_ is annoyed with himself. Felix frowns at the obvious debate in his brother's mind, he wishes he could somehow help Minho decide.

It didn't have to be him, he's just wished someone would be capable of helping his brother be better.


	10. eight

"Sungie hyung- please don't do anything to Minho hyung." Jeongin silently requests, looking at the floor they walk on, not knowing how his cousin would react.

He didn't even know Jisung would transfer. Jeongin promised to himself he'll argue with Younghyun when they ever meet.

"Innie," Jisung sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I really don't know if I could keep that promise or not, but I'll _try_."

Jeongin brightens at the response, and it almost made Jisung forget about the bastard of a senior left in the cafeteria. Sometimes he wonders if Minho and Felix really were brothers, they weren't alike at all.

But then Jeongin freezes on his spot, looking at his cousin with a doubtful look. He brings out his pinky, an expectant look on his face. "Pinky promise me!"

The sophomore stares at his cousin for a while, sighing after.

"Alright," He connects his pinky onto the younger's, sealing it with their thumbs, "but I'll have to talk to them somehow."

The cousins both stand in the middle of the hallway for a few moments, pinkies linked together as they stare at each other. Jisung looks at Jeongin and waits for his answer patiently, a soft look on his face.

Jeongin smiles a tiny one, nodding his head a little. "Okay, hyungie."

The older smiles, ruffling the younger's hair before heading forward to the school's garden to eat lunch.

⛓️

Chan watches Minho sulk grumpily on his seat, arms crossed on his desk and his chin plopped on top of it. It made the senior confused, he didn't know if he should be concerned or disappointed.

"Minho," Chan sighs, slumping a little when the younger doesn't respond.

"Min," He calls again. "Face me and let's talk, please?"

The younger senior sighs, leaning away from the desk before facing Chan. Minho did not want to talk at all, a contrast to how he would usually try and subtly get Chan's attention all the time.

"Since when did you start disliking Jeongin? I don't understand, I just want to know why." Chan sounded a little desperate. Minho knew that question was coming.

The younger looks away, fist against his cheek, he didn't know what to answer. "I just don't like him."

He hears Chan scoff, and it makes him a little nervous.

"Bullshit, this has been happening for months. What did he ever do to you?" The older tilts his head a little, trying to get a look on his best friend's face.

Minho, however, just looks away completely. He reaches to get his notebook from his bag before placing it on the table, ignoring Chan's questions. He never knew he'd hope for their annoying teacher to come early for once.

Though it didn't seem like luck was on his side today. Or maybe it was, he doesn't know.

Suddenly, the speakers turn on, and everybody reaches to cover their ears when they hear loud shuffling and uncomfortable noises emit from the speakers. Minho looks at Chan, seeing the older shoot up from his seat at the alarming situation.

The noises stop right after.

"Hyung, what the _fuck_ was that?" Minho asked the older, only to follow him right after when he doesn't respond, walking out of the room quickly.

He sees another student council officer heading straight towards them with an alert face. It was their school's vice president.

"Chan hyung, you heard that, didn't you?" The younger asks.

"We all did." Minho sighs, looking at the speakers scattered around the school carefully as if it would reveal its secrets if he just stared. "Any ideas on what could've happened?"

"Hyungs!" The three turn around to see Changbin rushing towards them, of course with that folder in his arm. He stops to see the vice standing with them, bowing a little in greeting. "Oh, hey there Seungmin."

The boy greets back with a kind smile. "I'm gonna come back later if I have news, just going to make sure the students stay in check."

Seungmin doesn't waste any more time before bowing and leaving the scene.

"We should split up, too. Seungmin will probably start with the freshmen since he's the most respected among them. Changbin, go to the juniors in your batch, Minho will go to the sophomores, I'm staying at this floor."

The two boys nod their heads, greeting each other good luck before splitting apart.

Meanwhile, in the sophomore's floor, a lot of students checked outside. Other students were talking to their friends from different classes, checking up on whatever just happened.

Felix clings onto Jisung right away, the eye patched boy stays silent, observing the rest of the class.

"Jisungie, please stay, I'm scared-" Felix rambles, gripping onto the other's arm tightly. "What if there's a ghost here? Or a monster? Are we gonna die?"

Felix was too busy freaking out he didn't realize Jisung was dragging him along and out to the hallways. The exact moment Minho turns around their corner, seeing a bunch of other sophomores looking around as well.

Felix sees Minho, grip disappearing from Jisung's arm as he rushes to his older brother. Jisung doesn't waste any more time and rushes out of the boys' sights, catwalking towards the stairs leading to the freshmen's hallways.

He _h_ _as_ to find Jeongin.

Minho engulfs his brother in a comforting hug, knowing how easily scared Felix can get. The sophomore stays the same for a while, until he finally pulls away.

"Hyung, can we check up on Jeongin?" Felix asks, looking at Minho in the eyes. The senior grimaces at the mention of the freshman's name, but he sighs before nodding anyway.

The sophomore brightens up instantly, smiling widely. It made Minho a little happy about his decision, but the smile quickly disappears when they both turn to where they assumed Jisung would be, only to see that the eye patched boy was nowhere to be found.

"He must've went ahead, we should go." Felix scratches his head, walking forward towards the stairs leading to the freshman hallways. Minho follows behind.

⛓️

Jisung ignores the stares he gets when he passes by the floor of freshmen. He frantically looks around, scanning the halls and the rooms to try and spot his younger cousin. There were only six freshman classrooms, and Jeongin's was at the end of the hallways, Jisung still checked the other rooms anyway.

He was definitely happy that Taro and Byeol were both separated from his cousin, Jisung didn't know if he could handle leaving the younger with any or both of his bullies.

Soon, he reaches the classroom by the end of the halls, Jeongin's room. His relief didn't last long.

Jeongin wasn't inside.


	11. nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't remember which eye was jisung's eye patch covering on(i dont remember if i mentioned it here either) but i've decided that it's his left eye that's covered :,)  
> \- dinny

_Where did he go?_ Jisung frantically looks around, fiddling with the button of his uniform, ignoring how he unconsciously sped up his pace. His mark was stinging.

 _Could he be in a restroom?_ The sophomore checks the nearest restroom from his cousin's room. Jisung opens the door, but he doesn't see anyone, it puts him on the edge even more.

 _Maybe he checked my room to check up on me and Felix?_ Jisung quickly turns around and runs towards the nearest staircase leading to the second floor, the sophomores' halls.

Jisung's face falls into a nervous frown while running up the stairs, until he accidentally collides into another student. The sophomore ignores the other boy, bowing a little as an apology before speaking.

"Sorry," He mutters just loud enough before going back to running. Jisung noticed the other was in a rush as well, so he gave him the time he needed.

 _Where could that boy be?_ Jisung frustratingly ruffles his hair, his emotions making him become out of his usual calm and collected character. The sting on his eye worsens. It makes him wince in pain.

Jisung was nearly running when he gets to his classroom, only to see Felix and Minho there as well. _Maybe they're looking for him as well_. Jisung quickly approaches the siblings.

"Lix." Jisung tiredly calls out, thankful that his voice was loud enough for the sophomore to hear.

Felix turns around quickly, engulfing the other in a warm hug, bringing a little comfort for the other. "Jisung! We were looking for you, we couldn't see Jeongin!"

The last words rang in Jisung's head, and that's when his worries become overwhelming.

_They did something, they did something to Jeongin. They did something to him. I wasn't beside him, I can't protect him, this is my fault._

_What's the point of going to this school if I couldn't even do_ _my_ _only job properly?_

Minho sees the way some of Jisung's bangs stick to his forehead from all the running, he sees how the younger doesn't respond to Felix's arms, Jisung's eye seemed unfocused.

The senior was about to reach out to his brother, until the eye patched boy pushes him softly, wince escaping his mouth. Felix and Minho watches as Jisung harshly places a palm against his covered eye, his lips were quivering.

It wasn't very Jisung-like.

"J-Jeongin." Jisung mutters, trying to ignore his painfully throbbing eye as he tries to calm himself. But the fear of not knowing what's happening to his cousin wasn't helping at all.

The sophomore runs away, ignoring how Felix calls his name repeatedly. Jisung doesn't know where to go, _maybe he went to ask Chan hyung what happened to me since I wasn't in my room?_

Jisung hated not knowing what to do.

"Felix," Minho calls his brother, "Help him find his cousin. I'll catch up when the sophomores settle down."

His brother looks at him with wide eyes, as if not believing what Minho just said. _Is he willingly letting me help find Jeongin?_ Either way, Felix would help Jisung, but he still smiles and nods his head before catching up with the other sophomore.

Minho looks at the back of his brother facing him, running after the unusually fidgety figure a few feet ahead of him. He sighs, before turning to the sophomores out of their rooms.

"Come on y'all! Get back inside, unless you want two points deducted!"

Minho couldn't help but worry for the cousins.

⛓️

"Hyung, the juniors are all inside now, should we talk about what happened?" Changbin says, approaching the senior who seemed to be lost in thought.

"Sure, we should check the auditory room, maybe someone's just playing with us." Chan mutters, "Let's head to the second floor."

The junior nods his head, following the older towards the stairs. That's when they meet Jisung and Felix hurriedly rushing up towards them.

Changbin didn't like how scared the sophomores looked.

"Jisung, Felix, what-"

Chan was cut off when the speakers turn on again, and instead of shuffling noises, it turned to screeching ones, sounds that make you want to remove your ears.

They all cover their ears, and Felix hears a faint whimper from beside him. He turns to see Jisung shaking his head with both hands on his ears. _The noises are really uncomfortable, but why is Jisung that bothered by them?_

It lasted for three seconds, until they stop.

"What the fuck is happening?" Changbin curses, "We have to go to the auditory room-"

"H-Have you seen Jeongin!?" The three boys flinch at Jisung exclaim, they've never heard Jisung's voice that high. The eye patched boy covers his mouth right away, his eye wide open. "I-I'm sorry-"

Changbin's heart breaks at how shaken the younger was. "We're sorry, Sung, but your cousin wasn't here." He wished he could take back the words he said when he sees Jisung's wide eyes in terror.

Before Chan could consult the younger, he sharply turns around and was about to run until Felix grabs ahold of him. Jisung looks at the other with a conflicted face, it made Felix worried as well.

The three of them hears a ring in the background, shifting their attention to Chan's phone. The senior takes the device out right away, opening the message he got. Jisung was about to try and escape Felix's grip until Chan speaks.

"Minho messaged, it's an emergency."

⛓️

The four boys arrived at the mentioned location, which happens to be the portion of the school where no one bothered to go to, wherein all the old desks and lockers were located. It was very dusty and dirty.

"Why are we here?" Felix asks slowly, looking around the messy area.

"And why would _Minho_ be here?" Changbin questions to himself, his eyes checking on Jisung from time to time. The boy reluctantly followed when the three other boys promised to help him find his cousin right after.

Chan sighs, "As much as I don't want to, we'll have to remove moral points after this issue, we should be in class."

"I don't care about those points." Jisung mutters.

The three other boys comes to a conclusion that Jisung turned out to be more.. reckless, than they thought he would be.

In the distance, they hear faint noises of banging and the dangling of chains, until they get closer to see Minho banging on a specific locker. They hear him curse loudly as well.

"Minho, what's happening?" Chan hurriedly asked, causing the younger to turn around with a look on his face.

"I saw some students walking nearby this area and told them to go back to their rooms. I was planning to leave but I heard someone bang from this locker." He explains, "I can't open it, but I can't leave them alone here either, they won't talk to me either."

Jisung pushes past the elders, grabbing the lock on the chain, wriggling it around as if it would break. He wanted to get this over with, and _finally_ find Jeongin. It was until he heard a sob break out from inside, and he froze at how familiar it was.

The others seemed to hear it too, as they stopped talking about the issue before turning to the locker.

"Jeongin?" Jisung shakily calls out, he didn't know whether to be hopeful or not that it was the younger indeed. But his heart breaks when he hears a broken "Sungie hyung" muffled from inside the locker.

Felix and Chan gasps, Changbin's eyes widen while Minho's mouth hangs wide open. Jisung ignores all of them though, harshly tugging on the chains.

"Fuck, Jeongin, _who_ did this to you!?" Jisung cries out, frantically looking around to spot anything that could break the chains. He turns the lock to try and figure it out, but he halts again when he sees an awfully familiar symbol etched on it.

An inverted letter Z, and the initials T.T.A overlapping on it.

The Take Away.


	12. ten

Jisung doesn't remember the last time he's been this angry. He felt his eye throb in pain, but Jisung didn't care.

The sounds of Changbin calling his name, and Felix saying some words to calm him down, along with Chan's worried calls for Jeongin, they were all muffled in Jisung's hearing. The only thing Jisung could focus on was the cries of his cousin.

Minho watches the sophomore, the way his body suddenly turns calm, the way he stills for a moment. It was scary. He sees the way Jisung glared at the logo on the lock.

They see the way Jisung brought his right arm up, folding it to bring out his elbow, before pulling the chain by his left hand, smashing the chains with his elbow with a force no one knew he had.

The sound of the chain breaking and falling on the floor was encountered by the fresh wound opening on Jisung's elbow, blood flowing out of it. Jisung doesn't make any sound though, proceeding to silently opening the locker to reveal the freshman's disheveled state.

Jeongin springs forward to latch onto his older cousin, visibly melting when he feels Jisung's arms wrap around him as well. His cries echo in the hallway, and they see Jisung sigh in relief.

"H-Hyung, you're-" Jeongin says before examining the wound on Jisung's elbow. The older ignores him though, reaching out to cup Jeongin's cheeks in worry. The freshman just stays still, looking at Jisung's eye.

Jeongin's face softens into a frown, eyeing the eye patch. He engulfs Jisung in a hug once more, his voice low only for him to hear. "It must've hurt, didn't it.."

Jisung shakes his head, finding himself to be cooling down under the other's touch. He pulls away from Jeongin before facing the others, who were silently watching the encounter.

Felix immediately steps forward to hug the freshman, Jeongin chuckles wetly when he feels the sophomore's tears on his neck, swaying him from side to side. Chan approaches the pair as well, checking up on Jeongin to make sure he didn't have any injuries.

Changbin went to Jisung and held out his hand to examine the new cut on Jisung's elbow. Minho, however, stays in the middle of everyone, but he figured that it would be better to leave the groups alone.

The senior turns around and starts to walk away, head hung low with his hands in each pocket. Jisung seemed to notice him, but he stays silent.

"We should treat this at the clinic," Changbin says, face filled with worry. "Does it hurt?"

Jisung shakes his head, smiling a little at the junior in front of him. It makes Changbin smile back in relief. Jeongin walks closer to his cousin, gently rolling up the sleeves on his uniform to avoid it being stained by the blood on his arm.

Chan ushers for all of them to go, not before Changbin reluctantly removes five points from the folder. Jisung eyes the lock on the floor once more, his mind drifting on the senior that left a few moments ago.

⛓️

"Where's Minho?" Chan asks in the middle of their lunch, looking around the cafeteria to spot his best friend.

"Isn't he always with you?" Felix asks back, eyeing Minho's usual seat beside Chan with concerned eyes. Jeongin seemed a little worried as well.

"Don't worry, Innie, he has his days where he just wants to be alone." Changbin smiles comfortingly, but his eyes clearly said otherwise.

Jisung stays quiet, sighing to himself as he takes in a bite of his food. He tries to ignore the way Changbin looks at him from time to time, eyeing the bandage wrapped around his elbow. Jisung was fine, _he's experienced worse_ , he wanted to say, but he knew that wouldn't reassure any of them at all.

His mind kept drifting back to the lock that was latched onto the chains, his motions suddenly limiting, hands wrapped around his utensil as he played with his food.

Once he decided that he wasn't hungry anymore, he fixes himself up before checking the time, only to see that he had 35 minutes more before their next class starts.

Jisung looks at Jeongin, meeting the younger's curious look with his soft one. He motions his hand towards the exit of the cafeteria, and the younger understands immediately.

"Bye hyungie!" Jeongin greets, urging the other boys to bid him farewell as well. Felix promised to bring his cousin back to his room safely, Jisung smiles at the sophomore before leaving.

Once he finally goes out of sight from the others, he quickly scans around the hallways as he walks ahead, looking for a specific senior along the way. Jisung frowns a little when he sees nobody familiar. He ends up putting his bag inside his locker before continuing to search around the campus.

Jisung walks around and turns more corners, climbs up and down a few stairs before realizing that Minho was nowhere to be seen, not even the school's gardens where Jisung and Jeongin decided to eat in before.

The sophomore huffs to himself, _I'll just thank him tomorrow_. Jisung was about to turn and walk away until his eye lands on a narrow staircase from afar. It didn't look like it was supposed to attract attention, but it did on Jisung's case.

He silently walks towards the staircase, looking at the dusty steps and a few cobwebs here and there. _Seriously, just how neglecting can this school be?_

Jisung carefully walks up the steps, somehow loving the silence that accompanied him along the way. Soon enough, he sees a small blue door, and a runout sign on a nail. _Rooftop_.

Maybe this could be where the senior was.

The sophomore's eye glimmers in anticipation and excitement. He cared more about the secret place he's discovered instead of the possibility of finding Minho in here, but either way, it'll probably be a win-win situation for him if the rooftop turns out to be a good spot on the campus.

Plus, it's hidden, Jisung loved secrets.

He opens the door silently(at least he tried to), to which the piece of metal suddenly emitted loud creaks of irritating noises resembling an opening to an old warehouse or something similar. It made Jisung feel like he was breaking into forbidden territory with Younghyun again.

The sophomore sees the plants by the fencing(that was _horribly_ put- it didn't serve any security at all) near the edges of the rooftop. It wasn't really anything amazing, but it did bring a sense of comfort to Jisung. The fresh air on here was great, too.

He almost forgot what he came for until he sees the reason he did, sitting on a bench a good meter away from the edge, back facing the younger. The familiar mop of indigo hair staring off the view in front of him- or maybe Minho was ignoring him.

Jisung walks slowly, arms crossed on his chest as he stands the usual way he does, weight leaning on one feet, head tilted to the same direction.

"Changbin, stop stalling and just sit down." Minho says in a sarcastic tone, but Jisung caught the tired half as well.

When Minho heard and felt nothing but silence and- _nothing_ , he turns around to see the person behind him, jumping embarrassingly on his seat when he realizes that it was Jisung. Not Changbin, Felix nor Chan.

"What do you want? How'd you find me?" Minho tries to glare, but instead he ends up making a conflicted and confused face. It almost made Jisung smile.

Jisung doesn't answer, but he bows ninety degrees slowly, before he mutters. "Thank you."

When he looks at the senior's face, that's what made him smile. Minho's eyes were wide open, shock etched onto his features. The way his mouth opens after Jisung smiles made the sophomore smile a little bigger. Jisung decides that Minho was a silly person despite how much of a bitch he was.

"S-Sorry, come again?" Minho stutters.

Jisung rolls his eye in return, but he walks closer to the bench in front him and sits down at the other end, giving enough space for the older. "You found Jeongin."

Minho couldn't really take in what was happening right now. _He was just glaring daggers at me yesterday_. Until he says, "I didn't really find him.. just crossed paths."

"If you didn't, I don't know what would've happened.." Jisung mutters, and quietly he adds, "to me and to him."

The senior did not find this _not_ awkward at all, he wasn't one who deals with emotions well, he doesn't even talk about it. And now he's hearing the person he potentially dislikes pouring out his gratitude towards him.

Minho clears his throat. "Well, I'm not that bad of a person."

He doesn't hear anything else from Jisung aside from a scoff, and it makes the older smile a little, especially when he sees Jisung actually not sending him a glare or silently judging him for once.

"When are you going back to class?" Minho finds himself asking, "Not that I want you out of here or anything."

_God_ , this was awkward.

But Jisung didn't seem to mind, which the senior is thankful for. The younger just shrugs and shifts for a bit, lifting his legs up to sit crisscrossed on the bench. Jisung puts his hands on his ankles, leaning forward as he stares ahead.

Minho just settles with lifting a leg up, putting his feet and placing his ankle under his thigh, he plops an elbow on the armrest beside him and places his chin on top of his palm before admiring the skies before them.

Okay, somehow, this was comfortable.


	13. eleven

Minho fiddles with the pen on his desk, waiting for Chan to enter the room. Chin plopped on his palm like he usually does, his mind goes back to the conversation Jisung pulled up with him on the rooftop.

_"Minho." He suddenly calls out, voice soft and going along the calming atmosphere._

_"No hyung?" Minho jokes, but his voice comes out monotone. Jisung rolls his eye at the remark._

_"Hyung," Jisung sighs out. It makes the senior chuckle a little._

_He still couldn't believe how comfortable they were being to each other, but Minho knew Jisung came for another reason than just thanking him._

_Minho sighs after, rubbing his face with his hands. "I know, you want me to stay away from your cousin."_

_Jisung stays silent, observing how the older's face morphs into conflict, turning annoyed, before becoming sad and guilty. The sophomore has never seen a person like Minho act like this, it either squeezes his heart or amuses him._

_"Your crush on your best friend is very.. sad." Jisung mutters, not knowing how to word his thoughts._

_"How do you say so?" Minho grumbles, well aware of how right the younger was. "About me crushing on him?" He doesn't mention a name._

_"It's not that hard to see it, hyung." Jisung rolls his eye again, Minho wants to poke it._

_"Who told you you can 'hyung' me?" Minho counters, trying to change the topic. But to no avail, Jisung just shoots him a look before standing up from the bench._

_"You're twenty-two, turning twenty-three or whatever, grow up." Jisung mutters, turning away before leaving the bench Minho was sitting on._

_The senior contemplates on shooting a snarky reply, but he bites it back when he hears the loud screeching of the metal door opening before it closes._

_The words Minho's been telling himself all these years, finally spat out by a boy younger than him. It felt different hearing it from someone else._

His mind comes back to the present, realizing the death grip he had on his pen. It was embarrassing, but Minho knew he needed to hear those words from someone else aside from himself. Even Changbin nor Felix hasn't said those.

"Minho, you good?" The young senior flinches when he hears Chan's voice, making the older flinch as well, a silly look on his face.

Minho stutters a reply, ignoring the doubtful look on Chan's face. He smacks his cheeks with some force when the older wasn't looking, hoping it would knock a little sense to himself. He freezes when he sees Hyunsuk looking at him with his eyebrows raised, Minho shrinks on his seat.

He will _not_ tolerate any questions in the dorm later on.

⛓️

"Where'd you go yesterday?" Chan asks, "Did something happen?"

Minho sighs at the question, knowing it would come up sooner. He just shrugs in response, "You could say it like that."

The senior stares at the younger with intense curiosity, and Minho really hoped Chan would let him off the hook, he didn't want to talk about his encounter with Jisung to anybody at all.

Fortunately, he does let Minho off this time, shifting to another topic instead. "About yesterday, the speakers and all."

Minho hums, fiddling with his pen again.

"They didn't find any culprit or any reason to why it suddenly turned on and made those noises," Chan leans on the elbow resting on his desk while facing the other. "A lot of assumptions are being made and most- _all_ of them, are connected to Strays."

The younger senior hums again, nodding his head. "It could be possible, what do you think?"

Chan shrugs, "Makes sense actually, and as much as you don't wanna hear it, only Strays could pull off these type of stunts."

Like Chan expected, Minho groans with a roll of his eyes. "Of course, because Strays are the risk takers between our species." Minho mocks.

He doesn't get it, why do they consider Strays the risk takers? Minho didn't like the thought, it made the Normals sound so boring, like they were the good and proper people compared to the other species.

Minho admits he doesn't like the idea of Strays, he didn't want to meet one, but it doesn't fit him that Normals are known as the _innocent_ people, when he knew himself that they weren't- a person like Minho would know that for sure.

Sometimes Minho wondered if he really was a Normal.

"What else do you think could be the reason why yesterday happened?" Chan tests, raising a knowing eyebrow, and it makes the younger sigh in defeat. Chan was right, as much as he hated the thought of it, only Strays could pull those off.

"Whatever, hyung, I'm studying." Minho grumbles, huffing when he hears Chan laugh, looking at him with a doubting look. Minho doesn't study, but he's glad he made the older laugh at his attempt.

⛓️

Minho and Chan wait for the rest of their friends to arrive in the cafeteria before eating, the older finishing his assignments while Minho plays on his phone.

"You know, ever since the T.T.A issue, all the troublemakers in our school laid low." Minho interrupts the silence, turning his phone off when he sees familiar figures entering the cafeteria.

"Mhm, the last we've handled were Jeongin's bullies a few days ago." Chan says, fixing his papers off of the table. "Maybe they're afraid of being accused as Strays."

Minho scoffs, "If they were, I wouldn't be surprised." Chan agrees.

"Hello hyungs~" Felix's bright voice fills in, accompanied by Changbin's, along with Jeongin's small greeting. Minho makes eye contact with Jisung, and the younger ignores him like they haven't done anything together yesterday.

Jisung still seemed a little bothered, but Minho guessed it was safe to assume that it wasn't about him and Chan. Jeongin notices, and he pats his cousin's forearm, Jisung just leans his head on the taller's shoulder, but he doesn't say anything else.

They started to eat their lunch with the usual chatter. Chan would quietly tease Changbin whenever he caught him staring at the eye patched boy(which was all the time), and Minho would join some times, but he mostly ate silently while listening to Felix's rants about another one of their music teacher's demanding yet useless assignments.

Jisung would smile from time to time, unknown to a certain junior's struggles, and the lingering glances of another senior. Come to think of it, Chan and Jeongin seemed a lot more talkative with each other today, and though Minho was bothered, he found himself focusing on Felix's rants instead.

There were times when the table would go unusually silent, where everyone decides to take a breather from talking and eating. It would usually be broken by Felix, who cracks up at the awkward pause, but now it's Chan who interrupts.

"Jeongin," Chan calls, catching everyone's attention aside from just the freshman's. "About yesterday, if I may ask.."

Jeongin lets out a small knowing sound, like he knew what Chan was about to ask. It made him a little uncomfortable, but he knew he had to talk about it right now. He nods his head, urging Chan to continue while everybody listens.

"Could you tell us about how you ended up in that locker?" He asks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had to split it into two parts this wasn't supposed to be a cliffhanger, 2/2 chapter is in a few minutes 


	14. twelve

Everyone stays silent as they wait for Jeongin's explanation. The freshman was supposed to speak, until Changbin interrupts with a question.

"Is it Taro and Byeol?"

"No! It's not them.." Jeongin denies, "It was only one person who locked me in."

Jisung bites on his lip in silent frustration, waiting for his cousin to continue speaking. His mind keeps going back to the logo on the lock, and he knew it won't leave soon. Not until he finds out what T.T.A wants with his cousin.

"T-They didn't say anything, they just pulled me and shoved me inside." Jeongin helplessly looks down, "They were wearing a mask too.. I'm sorry, I wasn't able to know anything about them."

"Say, did they have anything unusual on them? Hair color, clothes, anything?" Felix asks while rubbing circles on Jeongin's back.

Jeongin shakes his head, pouting a little, "It was dark as well, I couldn't point anything out aside from their hair being really short, so they could be a he."

"They could be a Stray." Minho mutters, loud enough for everyone to hear. Jisung tenses a little at the accusation, but he doesn't say anything back. His glare hardens at the empty plate in front of him.

Of course Jeongin noticed, subtly reaching his hand out to wrap it around his cousin's. Jisung quietly and shakily sighs, _Strays would never put Normals in danger._

It was a rule they've made inside the City of Strays. No one has ever went against it aside from the Born Astray. They were risk takers, but they never included the Normals in the troubles they made. They never did, it's the Normals who included themselves in their shit all the time. _Hypocrites_.

Vandalizing the walls and crashing around everywhere with smoke bombs weren't trouble, it's called _having fun_. Running free when you didn't have freedom was what excited their species.

Jisung was proud to somewhat be a Stray, but a lot of people taught him otherwise.

"Jisung?" The sophomore perks up at the mention of his name, looking up to meet Changbin's concerned eyes. Everyone was paying attention to him now.

He hums, as usual, his mind still a little far away from where he is. "You're thoughts are really loud." Changbin adds.

"Are they?" Jisung weakly whispers, unaware of how small his voice has become when a fresh group of realizations come crashing through his head.

Minho and Jeongin, being the people nearest to him, were the only people who hears his response.

Felix decided to let the sophomore think on whatever he was thinking about, distracting the elder students by bringing up a topic(it's about Minho finishing their cookies at home), Chan and Changbin seem to understand, going along the conversation.

Jeongin, however, leans in towards his cousin, a hand raising to cover his mouth as he whispers against Jisung's ear. "Hyung, I have a feeling they're a Stray."

Jisung shoots his head towards the younger, eye wide open. Jeongin looked apologetic and confused as well, he couldn't believe it either.

"T-They were wearing gray bandages, similar to Younghyun hyung's under his glove." Jeongin continues, "It's specialized for Stray's who have their mark on their hands, right?"

Jeongin was still whispering as low as he can, knowing the rest wouldn't hear him, but enough for Jisung's enhanced hearing to hear. Jisung stays silent, feeling a little convinced, yet it still seemed sketchy.

_Why would a Stray work for the T.T.A?_

"I'm not sure though, hyung, I didn't tell the others because if they knew about this, they might be included in this mess. I may not be a Stray, but you are, so I'm helping you stand by your one and only rule."

Jeongin was too good for this world, less be locked inside a dirty locker.

And it was because of a _Stray_ , who broke their _one and only_ rule, too.

"Thanks Innie." Jisung sighs, leaning his head on the younger's shoulder again. Jisung makes eye contact with the senior in front of him, expecting Minho to look away quickly, but they end up staring at each other for a few moments.

Jisung wasn't _actually_ looking at the senior, well, he suppose he was but his mind and attention were elsewhere. All he could think about was how to find the Stray, when and where to find them. It shouldn't be too hard, considering that those hand-marked specialized gloves were designed differently.

Minho starts to shift under Jisung's gaze, feeling some heat rush to his cheeks. He breaks the eye contact first, only to see that Jisung didn't seem fazed, his eyes seeming a little more distant.

The senior felt even more heat on his cheeks from embarrassment, _Jisung was spacing out, and here I thought he was staring at me. But why did he have to log off while staring at me?_

Jisung's been acting really weird lately.

_Do I look for him right now? Or do I have to wait?_ Jisung sighs, even though he hasn't decided, he's been scanning through the cafeteria to check each hand that reached his vision.

He was glad for the enhanced senses he had, despite not all of them functioning properly all the time. They still worked at the best times.

Jisung was sure a lot of people among these Normals were Strays undercover, and he's also sure those people were having second thoughts about which species he was.

He can't really side on either when he's both, can he?

If he was asked, he'd prefer to be a Stray- _much_ more than being a Normal. But destiny thought he had to be part of a mess he didn't want to be in.


End file.
